Mackenzie Tartan Time!

It is time to start thinking of Christmas tables. The inspiration was the Mackenzie tartan found last winter at the Goodwill. The Goodwills in this area sell tablecloths for $1.99 each, doesn't matter the size.

The white charger is metal. This was used so I could alternate colors as the red Waechtersbach dinner plate is what I am using as the charger. The dinner plate and soup bowl are Johnson Brothers in the Regency pattern, 1968-2003. The green salad plate is unmarked.

The red water/iced tea stems are compliments of a CSN gift card I was the lucky recipient from Linda at A la Carte the end of last year. The wine stem is Towle Leyland, circa 1982.

Flatware is sterling by Oneida, pattern is Afterglow, circa 1956, that belonged to my late mother-in-law. I just noticed I had forgotten to put out the soup spoons, oops!

The tureen is from Goodwill, $2.99 less the 25% senior discount! The maker is Himark (made in China) and pattern is Courtyard. The underplate is an older deep Johnson Brothers platter, it is the perfect size for the tureen. The candle holders are red mercury type glass.

The rim shot.

Thank you for the visit, hope to see you here the next time!


Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Wednesdays Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jeans Decor
Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch
Thrifty Thursday at Tales From Bloggeritaville
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper

Thanksgiving Table

Wishing all my family and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I started out with a pashmina in fall colors...I forgot to take a photo of it before setting the table. This was found at Goodwill last year for $1.99. Yes, I used the same linen napkins as I did last week! The turkey napkin rings, turkey dish and salt/pepper shakers were from an auction.

The dinner and dessert plates are Myott Queen's Thanksgiving pattern, bought on sale at TJMaxx a few years ago. The raised bordered salad plate are some I have used in several other posts, these were bought at Goodwill a couple of years ago. I don't know who the maker or pattern is.

The brown glassware was found at Goodwill on senior day, so that meant 25% off, which means each piece was 37¢! It is probably either Anchor Hocking or Libbey.

The flatware is a pearly light brown from World Market.

The centerpiece is just organic items I had around the house. I put them in a wooden tray which is raised on old books. The tall candle holders are from either TJMaxx or HomeGoods. The mercury glass candle holders are thrift store finds. I used them to hold those infamous mini white pumpkins...I told you I'd get my money's worth out of them!

Thank you for visiting this week. Hope you found it interesting enough to come back again.

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Wednesdays Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jeans Decor
Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch
Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper

Help Me!

I need to buy a new camera, the old one is ready to be retired, the pictures are no longer sharp looking. The old one is a Canon PowerShot, plus I have a Nikon Coolpix L110, which I do not like...the pictures are too grainy, no matter what setting it is on. What is a good camera that is uncomplicated, takes good crisp pictures, not real expensive...and most of all for someone that is a real beginner when it comes to photography?

What kind of camera do you have? Why would you recommend it?

Thanks for your input!

Luncheon Table

I set a very simple table for a small luncheon the other day...very, very simple!

The wicker charger plates were used without a tablecloth, once again.

I didn't want to do a Thanksgiving setting, but didn't want to ignore it, either. I used the salad/dessert plates with plain white dinner plates that have a really pretty raised border. The turkey plates are Myott Queen's Thanksgiving in polychrome. They have fairly subtle colors with quite a bit of an almost misty grey. I found these on sale at TJMaxx a few years ago. The dinner plate, unfortunately, has no backstamp so I don't know the maker or pattern. I found these at Salvation Army Thrift Store for 99¢ each.

There is a pale peach in the plate so I used peach napkins with wood napkin rings. The flatware is Oneida Afterglow, circa 1956.

The glassware is smokey grey, probably Libbey, but not sure. These were found at Goodwill for 49¢ each...did I ever tell you how much I like Goodwill!

The centerpiece is an urn filled with faux hydrangeas and creamy white candlesticks with a raised pattern somewhat like the plates. The candlesticks were from Goodwill, 37¢ each with the senior discount. The turkey was a gift at least 20 years ago from my friend Doré.

I took a couple pictures with the candles lit the night I set the table, but didn't light the candles for lunch!

The rim shot.

Thanks for taking the time to visit, it is very much appreciated. Hope you will come back again.
Until next time...have a great week!

***I just found out the maker/pattern of the creamy white plates is Steubenville Rose Point!

I will join:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Wednesdays Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jeans Decor
Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch
Thrifty Thursday at Tales From Bloggeritaville
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Seasonal Sunday at The Tablescaper

Asian Pork Noodle Soup

Soups are favorites in our house during cold weather. One of my favorites is an Asian Pork Noodle Soup. I make this often, usually before it gets really cold and something more substantial is needed. I found the recipe in a magazine, but don't recall which one. I have subtracted and added to make it my own. Recipe is below.

Asian Pork Noodle Soup

2¼ cups chicken broth
2¼ cups water
4 half inch slices fresh ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon red curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen
1 half inch thick boneless pork chop, trimmed of all fat
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 ounces rice sticks or other Asian noodles*
½ cup very thinly sliced radishes
½ cup chopped broccoli
¼ cup cilantro leaves

In a large sauce pan, combine the chicken broth, water, salt and red curry paste. Bring to boil, add the 4 slices fresh ginger (I don't even bother peeling it if in a hurry). Bring to boil, then turn heat down and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the broth is simmering, I very thinly slice the pork chop. It slices easily if barely frozen. Brown slices in sauté pan/fry pan in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
Prepare the noodles according to package directions.
Remove ginger from broth. Add chopped broccoli and pork, simmer until broccoli is tender but still quite green in color.
Rinse noodles in cold water, add to broth along with cilantro.
Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with sliced radishes.

Yield: 4 servings

* I have used vermicelli or angel hair pasta if I didn't have Asian noodles in the pantry.

Let me know how you like this soup! Thanks for visiting today.

I will join Foodie Friday at Designs By Gollum.

November Tablescape

I will apologize right off for the terrible pictures, it has been a dark, rainy couple of days here on the prairie. Flowers for my birthday from Stasha and kids were the inspiration for this week's table. They have the greens, golds, and rusts of my Vernonware Homespun dishes.

After the Homespun was decided on I started pulling out tablecloths, placemats, napkins, glassware, flatware, etc.

I chose not to use a tablecloth, instead a round green placemat, a rust and brown Vera print napkin and the green handled flatware from World Market.

Not sure of the maker/pattern of the green glassware...you knew I would work lots of green into this table, didn't you?

With the placemats and napkins chosen, I then grabbed the spice/terracotta Pottery Barn Sausalito large dinner plate as the charger.

The dinner plate is by Regalia by Gibson, white with a raised border.

The next layer is the Homespun luncheon plate.

On to the next layer...a white salad plate in the Basket Relief pattern by Pier One.

Finally the Homespun dessert plate for the Colony Whitehall/Cube champagne/tall sherbet to sit on.

The layers.

Placesetting.

The centerpiece "vase"...this was probably one of my favorite yard sale finds...a large Van Briggle pitcher for $5 from about 8 years ago.

Green placemats-Gift
Vera napkins-Savers
Green handled flatware-World Market
Green glassware-Goodwill and ARC Thrift
Terracotta charger plates-Goodwill
White Gibson dinner plates-Savers
Vernonware Homespun plates-Goodwill @37¢ per piece last year
White Pottery Barn-Goodwill
Candle holders-ARC Thrift
Candles-Goodwill
Van Briggle pitcher-yard sale
Flowers-Stasha and kids for my birthday last week

Thank you for your visit today...hope you will return again. Hope you all have a great week!

I will be joining:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Wednesdays Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jeans Decor
Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch
Thrifty Thursday at Tales From Bloggeritaville
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Seasonal Sunday at The Tablecaper

Majestic Purple

Part of the inspiration for my table this week came from one of my favorite blogs, Nancy's Daily Dish...we have the same glassware. I hadn't thought to put the two together until perusing her blog last week. Yes, I did copy her! I knew I was going to do a mainly purple table and they just seemed to complement the salad/dessert plate which has purple, green, orange, gold and brown in it.

I started with an ecru lace tablecloth and wicker chargers. I then layered a plain purple dinner plate, from The Better Homes and Gardens bought last year at Walmart, on sale of course; this I used as the charger plate. The next layer is a plain white dinner plate, Homer Laughlin White Dover, then a dark brown rimmed salad plate by Sterling, which I think is a type of restaurantware. Finally the top plate, which I am using for dessert, is another Better Homes and Garden from Walmart last year.

I found the purple, orange and gold napkins at Savers back last year after Thanksgiving and scooped them up. The beige flatware is from World Market.

Stacked plates.

The centerpiece is the vintage Red Cliff tureen in the Grape pattern found on eBay for less than $25. It didn't have the underplate with it, so I have used one from one of my other white grape patterned tureens, which is nowhere near as ornate as the original. I have seen this tureen priced for over $400 on Amazon and eBay! The purple candles are just sitting on little purple bread dipping plates. The urns are from thrift stores, probably Goodwill.

Thanks for taking the time to visit tonight. Hope to see you again, soon!

I will be attending parties this week at:

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Wednesdays Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jeans Decor
Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps On The Porch
Thrifty Thursday at Tales From Bloggeritaville
Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove
Open House Party at No Minimalist Here
Seasonal Sunday at The Tablecaper